MITES WHICH DESTROY SCALE-INSECTS 83 



This species certainly feeds upon the eggs of Coccids, and probably 

 also upon their young, and sucks the juices of the adult Bark-lice, when- 

 ever it can get at them. 



THE HAIRY ORANGE MITE.* Probably the next in point of abund- 

 ance is a larger mite, dark red in color, covered with pale hairs, broadly 

 oval in form, and with several irregular indentations upon the back. 

 This mite is als,o very rapid in its movements, and is certainly predatory 

 upon Scale-insects or their eggs. 



The eggs are sherry -brown in color, quite large and globular, and aie 

 usually deposited singly upon the leaf among scales, or strung like 

 amber beads upon strands of spider's web, which harbor the mites and 

 their young. ' 



The six-legged young are spindle-shaped, of a lighter, ruby-red color, 

 the extremities pale, and have an eye-like prominence on each side of 

 the anterior body. The length of the adult is 0.3 mm ( T ^f- inch). 



THE SPEAR-HEAD MiTE. 7 Another not uncommon Ked Mite seems to 

 be predatory upon Scale-insects. It is rather larger than the preced- 

 ing 5 dull, opaque red, not hairy ; the body is distinctly diamond or 

 spear shaped, somewhat flattened, with a sharp median ridge upon the 

 back, having on each side a longitudinal depression ; a band of pale 

 brown is sometimes seen across the middle of the back. Length, 0.35 mm 

 (i-Jfo inch). 



This species is sluggish and solitary. The eggs are deep red, globu- 

 lar, and are deposited singly among scales. 



There are numerous species of Mites found about and among Scale- 

 insects, of which a few only appear to be dependent upon them for their 

 subsistence, or peculiar to the orange tree and its kind. Some of these 

 mites are undoubtedly merely scavengers, living about, if not upon, the 

 dirt and debris that collect where the plant is fouled with Scale-insects, 

 but never appearing to attack the insect itself in any stage. Possibly 

 they feed upon the excrement or excretions of other insects, or upon 

 molds that accompany such ejected mattep. 



The predatory Mites are usually active, running hither and thither 

 restlessly, occasionally stopping to examine the sealed edge of a scale 

 or to pry into a vacant and deserted shell. 



The young of Mites frequently differ entirely from the adults in form 

 and coloration; they have, moreover, but three pairs of legs, while the 

 adults have four pairs. The life-history of many species is imperfectly 

 known. 



THE SPOTTED MiTE. 8 This is a rather large, egg-shaped or pear- 

 shaped Mite, with a very plump, smooth, shining, and pellucid body, 

 either white or honey -yellow in color, and provided with a few very 

 long and fine bristle-hairs ; the division of the body into two parts is 

 barely indicated by a fine line; in adult specimens the bo.dy behind is 

 more or less clouded with red-brown, forming sometimes a distinct spot; 

 a large round spot on each side, upon the declivities of the hind-body, 



